Kathleen Parker slices and dices "Nutso Mark" Sanford -- now if only she'd troubled to remember who this slug really is

"Nutso Mark" Sanford -- why won't he just shut up?

by Ken

As I occasionally note, sometimes it takes a right-winger to bag a right-winger, and so today we invite Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker to comment on one of the nation's leading sociopathic scumbags, fromer SC Gov. (and now Rep., and eternal Nutso) Mark Sanford.

Kathleen is especially touchy, in her column "Mark Sanford’s pathetic saga with himself," about Nutso Mark on account of their shared South Carolina heritage. She seems to feel some defense or maybe explanation is in order.

As a South Carolinian, it falls to me to examine the peculiarities afflicting our former governor and now-congressman Mark Sanford, who, contrary to decorum and taste, continues to demand attention.

Yes, that Mark Sanford — the erstwhile Appalachian Trail wanderer who in 2009 found himself not out hiking, as his gubernatorial staff had reported, but befuddled and besotted in Argentina with his longtime soul mate, Maria Belen Chapur [note: remaining links onsite -- Ed.].

Fast-forward through a tearful news conference, during which Sanford all but plummeted to a fainting couch confessing his infidelity, through his high-profile separation from his wife, Jenny, then next to his mysterious reelection to the congressional seat he held prior to becoming governor and . . . wait, fire the writer!

Not even a credulous soap opera viewer would buy a tale so tawdry and ridiculous. Not only is it not credible, it’s pathetic. Moreover, leading men do not long hold an audience after they cry over themselves.

These events also remind us of two tropes in no danger of dismissal: Love is a form of temporary insanity; and anti-secessionist James Petigru’s 1860 assessment of his state as “too small to be a republic and too large to be an insane asylum.”

Which brings us up to Nutso Mark's latest invasion of our space, which I admit I needed filling in on. Oh, I'd read about his bizarre Facebook screed (a tip: nobody cares, Nutso!), but not about his "hiking" honey's perplexity.

Fast-forward again to a few days ago. Sanford, apparently finding unbearable his irrelevance and growing obscurity, decided to drop his manly charade and write a torturously long Facebook entry in which, among other true confessions, he announced the end of his engagement to Chapur.

“Qué dice?” asked Chapur from Paris, where she had just spent a honeymoon-ish few days with Sanford.

Chapur knew they were no longer engaged, but she didn’t know that Sanford had announced it on Facebook until, like President Obama’s occasional receipt of awful news, she heard it from the media. In Paris, Chapur had hoped for a wedding date but was offered instead another two-year engagement. In light of which, one wonders what ever attracted at least two women to Sanford, whose charms remain elusive.

In his global missive, Sanford explained that he simply couldn’t drag Chapur through any more of this nasty business with his wife (oh, he noticed?), which recently included a request that Sanford submit to a psychological examination before he is allowed to spend time with their youngest son, now 16.

This request is doubtless difficult for Sanford, but under the circumstances it is hardly misplaced. Come to think of it, a state Department of Psychological Welfare might not be wasted.

And this leads Kathleen to another fellow South Carolinian of hers, former State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, better known to DWT readers as "Republican coke freak Thomas Ravenel," who represented their home state so, er, dramatically on the "reality" show Southern Charm.

Kathleen dumps these Palmetto State wackos in a blender and purées them a bit, then comes up with this kind of weird Zeitgeist-y mulch:

With such public exemplars as Sanford and Ravenel, something, indeed, seems aloft — a shift away from the Southern stereotypes the national media love to exploit to a proud narcissism that knows no shame.

Traditionally, South Carolina has been stubbornly defiant, bellicosely belligerent and heartbreakingly wounded by the humiliation imposed by its invasion and conquest. Now that everyone suddenly loves South Carolina — at least its beaches, its plantations and its crown jewel, Charleston — the natives are bustling to pirouette on a pedestal. Add to these sudden tendencies the pestilential narcissism that breeds in social media like “skeeters” in the Lowcountry marshes and you’ve got the Sanford & Ravenel Show.

Huh?


THERE'S JUST ONE LITTLE
THING KATHLEEN'S LEFT OUT

I think where Kathleen has missed her turn -- and this seves as a reminder of why we have to be careful when we turn to right-wingers for guidance, even, or perhaps especially, with one of their own -- is by somehow forgetting to explain who the fuck this whacked-out scumbag Nutso Mark Sanford is. Ah, how quickly they forget over there on the Cuckoo Side.

Mark Sanford was, until he started serially imploding, one of the country's most vicious, wrathful, self-righteously moralizing demagogues, raining down the wrath of God on all those liberal sinners who don't live their lives exactly the way he said we were supposed to. By now, of course, it has come to seem all but automatic: Anytime we encounter one of those right-wing fire-and-brimstoners, either wait just a while or do a tiny bit of digging and we'll discover that we're being browbeaten by a Grade A certified slimebag.

Mark Sanford doesn't have to apologize for being insane, though it would be the decent thing for someone in his advanced state of mental as well as moral decay to get the hell and stay the hell out of public life for as long as he continues, regrettably, to draw breath. What Mark Sanford needs to apologize for is, well, everything he ever said and did as a political person, because it was all based on delusions and lies.

There's some consolation in knowing that if even the tiniest fraction of his phony-baloney moralizing bullshit is true, he'll be rotting in hell for eternity. But I say that's too long to wait for the agonies he has so abundantly earned to commenced. What I want to hear from him is a deeply sincere apology for having been born.

#

Lindsey Graham Won His Primary, But BRAVO TV Star Thomas Ravenel May Well Still Do Him In

We've been writing about how the DSCC is missing their best opportunity of 2014 by not taking advantage of a peculiar situation in South Dakota where there are 3 Republicans on the November ballot against populist Democrat Rick Weiland. The Party Establishment has a garden variety corporate shill in the race, Mike Rounds, and he's the official party designee, but 2 very well-known Republicans, ex-U.S. Senator Larry Pressler, and state Senator Gordon Howie, both running as Independents, feel strongly that Rounds is unfit to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.

There's a similar situation developing in South Carolina, as well-- although instead of a populist Democrat like Weiland, the Democratic candidate there, state Senator Brad Hutto, is from the Republican wing of the party. If he can persuade Democratic voters to support a conservative, Hutto may benefit from a schism in the state GOP that wasn't cured by the big primary win Lindsey Graham just celebrated. Lindsey already spent $8,500,416 against half a dozen Republican opponents from the teabagger wing of the party, none of whom spent as much as $5,000 and these were the results:

• Lindsey Graham- 169,899 (56.49%)
• Lee Bright- 47,107 (15.66%)
• Richard Cash- 24,016 (7.99%)
• Det Bowers- 22,060 (7.33%)
• Nancy Mace- 18,748 (6.23%)
• Bill Connor- 15,878 (5.28%)
• Benjamin Dunn- 3,055 (1.02%)

As we've been warning, though, popular former South Carolina Treasurer and cable TV star, Thomas Ravenel-- also: a household name, very, very rich and a coke freak who went to prison on drug changes a couple of years ago-- left the Republican Party and is now some kind of independent libertarian running against Graham. I don't even get the idea he expects to win-- just defeat Graham, who he really, really detests. (Ironically, Graham is gay and Ravenel is straight but Ravenel favors LGBT equality while the closeted Graham opposes it.) This week, the Charleston Post and Courier reported that Ravenel is already spending money to gather the 10,000 signatures he needs to get on the November ballot. "Like Admiral Farragut said, 'Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead.'"




All Ravenel needs to do is take between 10 and 15% of the votes and Graham will likely lose to Hutto. South Carolina isn't as red as many people think it is. When Democrat Vincent Sheheen ran against Nikki Haley in 2010 she beat him 690,525 (51%) to 630,534 (47%). When Graham last faced the voters, in 2008, he was up against Democrat Bob Conley. Graham pulled 1,076,534 votes (58%) to Conley's 790,621 (42%). On that same day McCain beat Obama, but probably not by as much as you think: 1,034,896 (54%) to 862,449 (45%). A 10-15% deduction from any of the Republicans in those races would have flipped the victory to the Democrat.

T-Rav says he's done with Southern Charm now and plans to explain his 2007 bust in great detail, particularly the speculation that Graham, who feared Ravenel would beat him in a primary, pulled the strings that set the investigation into motion. This should be an exciting race to watch, even more exciting than Southern Charm.

Ravenel opposes unconstitutional invasions of privacy by the NSA

How Does An Actual Progressive Campaign In A Red State?

Ex-Republican/BRAVO TV star Tom Ravenel announced he is running as an independent against Lindsey Graham in the general election. If he manages to pull just 10% of the anti-Graham votes, the Democrat will win the U.S. Senate seat. Last year, when no one wanted to Democratic nomination, Blue America endorsed progressive outsider Jay Stamper but when Ravenel made it public he was going to run the Democratic state Party Establishment got behind hopeless conservative, Chamber of Commerce state Senator Brad Hutto who is hoping that Ravenel can deliver the Senate seat to him.

In the video above, which Jay posted this morning, he is very clear that the last thing South Carolina Democrats should be doing is "abandoning our principles and throwing middle class and working families under the bus because we think it will help get us elected." He's obliquely referring to Hutto, a prime example of a terrible fake Democrat from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. Jay eloquently makes the case for giving voters a real choice, not a pale echo of the Republican Party. "I’m running," he starts, "because with all the challenges and opportunities ahead, and with the President looking to the future, Republicans in Congress are stuck in the past and holding us all back."

Stamper doesn't have to campaign on the Affordable Care Act; he wasn't in Congress to vote for it. But he's talks about-- even calls it Obamacare-- at every stop, touting the benefits for working people and thumbing his nose at the Koch brothers and the predatory Republicans who want nothing more than to deny health insurance to poor people and continue to strip benefits from the middle class. Jay understands something that many southern Democrats don't want to understand. Voters may not like Obamacare but they like everything about it. In today's Washington Post Greg Sargent pointed out that polling shows that most voters in 4 red states-- Arkansas, North Carolina, Louisiana and Kentucky-- support the basic goal of government action to expand coverage to those who need it-- and support expanding Medicaid. Although South Carolina wasn't polled, there's no reason to believe results there would diverge from the results in the 4 other red states.

"When people," he wrote, "are given a range of choices about the proper role for government in health care, one in keeping with what Obamacare actually does, the picture changes. Large majorities support either government giving people without workplace insurance financial assistance to buy private insurance, or government providing coverage as it does for seniors and the poor. Only small minorities say government should not be involved and that getting coverage is people’s own responsibility. The total who envision one of those two government roles, versus those who see no role at all, breaks down as follows: Arkansas (55-36); Kentucky (63-29); Louisisana (58-35); and North Carolina (61-32)."

Hutto stood with the South Carolina extreme right Republican Party and the NRA to allow guns in bars and he's proud of his 100% rating from the crackpot and very partisan Chamber of Commerce. Jay:

Unfortunately, there are still people in our own state party establishment who think you have to act like a Republican to be elected as a Democrat; that we should be dictating women’s reproductive choices, telling people who they can and can’t marry, even siding with the NRA. They think that to win, we need to distance ourselves from President Obama, his positions and his accomplishments.

I couldn’t disagree more. I’m proud to be a Democrat. I’m proud of President Obama and what he’s accomplished. And I’m not gonna spend a second of this campaign apologizing for it.

This President has done an incredible job for all of us, even in the face of Republicans in Congress who just want to see him fail. Now, he needs our help to keep the US Senate from falling into Republican hands. We need to get out the vote, beat Lindsey Graham and give President Obama the votes in the Senate he needs…

To raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

To fight for equal pay for women.

And to defend the Affordable Care Act.

I’m not gonna to run away from Obamacare when there’s so much to be proud of.

Now is not the time to back down. It’s time to hold Republicans accountable.

Let’s hold them accountable when they cut benefits for seniors, veterans and the disabled in the name of fiscal conservatism-- and then spend over a trillion dollars on wars and nation-building.

We’re 43rd in education, 46th in health care, 45th in personal income. We need nationbuilding right here in South Carolina.

If you'd like to help Jay accomplish a really incredible feat in South Carolina-- replacing Lindsey Graham with a fighting progressive true to the values of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt-- you can contribute to his campaign here. It's a feisty, grassroots campaign and he can really use some help!

Is South Carolina Ready For A Democratic Party Take-Over?

We've been talking about convicted cocaine dealer/ex-Treasurer of South Carolina Tom Ravenel ® and how he is hoping to pivot from ex-con and BRAVO sit com/reality show star to anti-Lindsey Graham general election Senate candidate in November. If he does, he's likely to throw the election to the Democratic candidate. You don't think so? Progressive outsider Jay Stamper has had the Democratic nomination all to himself until Ravenel made it public he was going to run. At that point, the Democratic state Party Establishment got behind hopeless conservative state Senator Brad Hutto who is hoping that Ravenel can deliver the Senate seat to him.

There's a similar dynamic-- minus the cocaine bust-- playing out in the South Carolina gubernatorial race in which ex-Blue Dog-turned Republican Tom Ervin has withdrawn from the GOP primary and is running as an independent against incumbent Gov, Nikki Haley and Establishment Democrat Vince Sheheen. He can probably draw enough votes away from Haley, who is widely disliked by South Carolina voters, to deliver the race to Sheheen, a conservative. Haley's approval rating was only 42%-- with a 49% unfavorable and when voters were asked if the election were held now, only 44% said they would vote to reelect her, as opposed to 46% who would vote to elect Sheheen. With Ervin in the mix, she's cooked.

Tom Ervin, a former Greenville lawmaker and judge, said Friday that he has withdrawn from the Republican primary for governor and will run as a petition candidate in the November election.

Tom Ervin, a former Greenville lawmaker and judge, said Friday that he has withdrawn from the Republican primary for governor and will run as a petition candidate in the November election.

Ervin, a 62-year-old attorney and radio station owner, said he needs more time to share his message and could not accomplish that in the short span before the primary.

“I believe South Carolina is ready for fresh new leadership and ready for a governor who cares about our people and not selfish political ambition,” he said. “Both (Republican Gov.) Nikki Haley and (Democratic challenger) Vince Sheheen are career politicians. I’m a small business owner who will serve as governor and then return home to run my business.”

He said he started gathering signatures of registered voters to have his name added to the November ballot as a “Republican petition candidate.”

"I look forward to offering my vision for South Carolina as a Republican in the general election," he said.

When he joined the race late last month, political experts gave Ervin little shot of unseating Haley, whose popularity has grown in the party since her 2010 election. The governor has $4.3 million to spend.

Ervin has loaned his campaign $420,181, according to state records. He had $271,172 on hand after spending money on a consultant and automated robocalls.

He started a six-figure radio ad campaign this week introducing himself to voters.

Ervin was a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party for a unsuccessful run in the 2005 special election to succeed House Speaker David Wilkins, who had been named the U.S. ambassador to Canada. Ervin has said he became a Republican because he’s pro-life and a born-again Christian.

He has donated to GOP candidates in recent years, but his wife, attorney Kathryn Williams, has contributed to candidates in both parties-- including $4,500 to Sheheen’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign and $50,000 to the S.C. Democratic Party that same year, according to state records.

Ervin said Friday that he believes his being a “fiscal and social conservative with an independent streak” could sway voters.

“I’m running to reform state government and to restore executive competence, honesty and accountability – especially as it relates to protecting our most vulnerable children in harm’s way,” Ervin said.

Ervin gave a good clue to the kind of campaign he'll be running against Haley in his announcement statement Friday: "Four years ago, Nikki Haley promised us transparency and accountability when she became governor. Sadly, Governor Haley has broken those promises. Instead, Haley has delivered four years of missteps, mistakes, scandals and cover-ups – none more disturbing than the ongoing investigation of Governor Haley's cabinet appointee and their gross negligence in failing to protect the children under their watch at DSS. The Bible says we will be judged by how we treat the least of those among us. That means doing everything within our power to right the wrongs being done to our children at risk. Under her watch, Nikki Haley has turned a blind eye to the plight of our children at greatest risk. It is time for Governor Haley to relieve her appointee at DSS for gross incompetence and mismanagement."

Can you imagine the GOP losing both the Senate and gubernatorial races in November? Here's his new radio ad, which is absolutely saturating the airwaves now:

Scott Brown Wants To Change New Hampshire-- "Live Free And Die"-- And Thomas Ravenel Wants To Do Something Weird In South Carolina

Last night, Rachel Maddow's opening segment was the Scott Brown Story (above). It's an excellent piece of reportage and I recommend it. Thursday he makes his "official" declaration of candidacy to run for Senate (in New Hampshire). There are 4 other Republicans running, including an ex-New Hampshire 2-term U.S. Senator, Bob Smith. He might find it awkward using the carpetbagger charge against Brown because after he was ousted by John Sununu is the 2002 primary he moved to Florida (and ran for Senate there, unsuccessfully, in 2004 and 2010). But, awkward or not, he'll use it. And he won't be the only one. Mark Hounsell, Republican former assistant leader of the New Hampshire state Senate, pounded him as a shameless carpetbagger in the Conway Daily Sun and said Brown is a dunce to ignore the primary and assume he's the candidate against Shaheen.

To me, either Bob Smith, or Jim Rubens are much more preferable than the slick looking, silver tongued, golden boy from the flatlands.


Scott Brown is looking to the November general elections and not considering the GOP primary at all.  The John H. Sununu camp and his puppet, GOP Chairman Jennifer Horn, are doing all they can to see to it that Brown gets that nomination. Political hucksters, such as Karl Rove, are raising huge amounts of money for Brown’s campaign. Yet, they are forgetting one thing.  The GOP primary voters favor conservatives. Case in point.  the recent Executive District  One GOP primary.  The NHGOP establishment all lined up behind the moderate Chris Boothby and were floored when the conservative Joe Kenney prevailed.  That is real good evidence that in spite of everything else the independence of the New Hampshire voter cannot be bought.  Scott Brown will be a bright and short-lived Roman Candle, in the mold of Texas Governor and short-lived presidential candidate, Rick Perry. Rubens will split the moderate vote from Brown and Bob Smith will eek out a victory and secure the Republican nomination.


Regardless, of where they may fall philosophically on the political spectrum of left or right, both Bob Smith and Jim Rubens have something that Scott Brown lacks.  That is New Hampshire roots and New Hampshire experience.  New Hampshire voters will not elect a “Johnny come lately”  who will say, or do anything in order to achieve what he wants. When Brown loses his bid to become a Senator from New Hampshire where will he move next?  Perhaps he will pack his carpetbag and shamelessly move to Maine?

Yesterday, Joshua Miller interviewed Elizabeth Warren for the Boston Globe about Brown's chances against Shaheen. “Jeanne is tough, she is independent, and she is strong," she told him. "I think Scott Brown is going to have his hands full.” She also predicted Shaheen, who was New Hampshire's popular governor from 1997 until 2003, will win another term. Shaheen is the first woman in U.S. history to have been elected as both a governor and senator.

Recent polling backs up Warren's prediction. PPP reported that 40% of New Hampshire voters already have an unfavorable opinion of Brown (and only 34% have a favorable opinion of him). In a head-to-head match-up she beat him 46-43%.

Speaking of loser Republicans running for the U.S. Senate, last night, after his incredibly dysfunctional weekly appearance on BRAVO's sit com/reality show Southern Charm, South Carolina's Republican former state Treasurer, Thomas Ravenel, announced that he's a candidate for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat. He was forced to resign when he was caught selling cocaine and sentenced to prison. He's out of prison now, a BRAVO star, an embarrassment to Charleston and someone who could take away enough votes from Lindsey Graham in the general election to see progressive Democrat Jay Stamper become South Carolina's senator. Imagine!

A New Day Dawnin' In South Carolina? Not Likely

The only state that has both Senate seats up in November is South Carolina. That's because Lindsey Graham has served his 6 year term and is up for reelection for one seat and because Jim DeMint resigned and was replaced with a gubernatorial appointment, right-wing extremist Tim Scott, for the other seat. There will be a special election to fill out the rest of DeMint's term. We've been concentrating on the Graham seat since he makes such a flamboyant target out of himself-- and because 6 hilarious crackpot teabaggers are running against him, plus a Democrat, Jay Stamper, who has been endorsed by Blue America, and because he is also being opposed by Republican cocaine dealer and reality show star Tom Ravenel, running as an independent (see interview below).

The other race, however, just got a tiny bit interesting. What was supposed to be a straight march to coronation for Scott-- he's facing Richland County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson who was picked entirely for her ability to turn out Democratic base voters for Vincent Sheheen's plausible gubernatorial race-- took an unexpected twist this week. Unlike Graham, Scott has no primary opponent. Teabaggers are perfectly happy with his lockstep adherence to their reactionary agenda. He's good at that; he's been doing it for his entire political career. And Dickerson isn't a real threat. Now, however, he has a third opponent, Jill Bossi, a mainstream conservative running as an independent on the American Party, a bunch of centrist refugees from the GOP and a gaggle of far right Democrats.

The grandmotherly Bossi held down minor executive positions with Experian and Verizon and with the criminal bankster operation, Bank of America and worked for the American Red Cross as well. She announced her campaign in an e-mail Monday: “Enough is enough, it’s time to put an end to the political extremism and gridlock in Washington."

A political newcomer, Bossi told The State that she read about the American Party’s formation in South Carolina and was inspired by its platform promoting term limits, governing from the center, “stopping the growth of the political class,” holding candidates accountable and promoting global economic competitiveness.

Bossi said she chose to run for Scott’s seat in part because he was appointed to the Senate seat, has never run for statewide office, and has attracted few challengers. Bossi plans to file for the seat Friday.

The platform sounds a lot like what you would expect, inoffensive pablum from the disaffected Establishment wings of both Beltway parties… very reasonable sounding, like their stand on gun control:

Provide strong, unequivocal support for the Second Amendment-- coupled with responsible, reasonable regulations and programs. (e.g. strong, universal background check system and better mental health diagnosis and treatment.)

So who defines responsible and reasonable? Or how about their "stand" on tax policy?

Initiate comprehensive tax reform to acquire a simpler, fairer tax system that supports economic growth and encourages work, savings and investment.

Again, who defines "fairer?" The Koch brothers would define "fair" in a way that precludes billionaires from paying anything more than the change the tax collector finds stuck between the cushions of their couches. I would define fair as a progressive system that precludes the existence of billionaires, the way it was when Eisenhower was president. And where would Jill Bossi stand on that? We'll probably never find out.

Could Lindsey Graham Lose to a Democrat?

The South Caolina Senate race may be more of a tossup than anyone realizes. With Patty Murray, the architect of the DSCC's stunning series of victories in 2012, having turned over the reins of the committee to one of the Senate's weakest, lamest and least capable members, Michael Bennet, there are ominous signs ominously pointing to the possibility that Democrats will narrowly lose the Senate this year. The hackish executive director, Guy Cecil, who totally controls Bennet has vetoed DSCC involvement on behalf of grassroots progressives in races in South Dakota and Maine and Senate Democrats are in panic mode, scrambling to defend numerous vulnerable seats and counting on a surprise win in Kentucky or Georgia just to hang on to a slim majority.

There has been no shortage of bad news recently, including the loss of a purported bellwether House race in Florida and Republican recruiting successes in Colorado and New Hampshire.

But there is also a glimmer of good news for Democrats coming from the unlikeliest of states: South Carolina. There, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is fighting the toughest campaign of his career against six Tea Party challengers in a bitter contest for the GOP nomination. Although Graham is expected to win his primary, he will emerge from it bruised, battered, and with a much reduced war-chest. One of his Republican opponents is already publicly gay-baiting the closeted Graham, which local media has picked up on in a big way. Dave Feliciano of Spartanburg: "It's about time that South Carolina (says) hey, We're tired of the ambiguously gay senator from South Carolina. We're ready for a new leader to merge the Republican Party. We're done with this. This is what it's about, all of us coming together and saying, one way or the other, one of us is going to be on that ballot in November."

All of this is of course positive for Jay Stamper, Graham’s Democratic challenger and the candidate endorsed by Blue America. But, what’s really getting national Democrats’ attention is the likely independent candidacy of former State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel. Ravenel is a right wing conservative who plans to run to Graham’s right as an independent in the general election. He also plans to fund his campaign using his considerable fortune, reminiscent of his 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate in which he spent $2.7 million of his own money.

In other words, Ravenel is the perfect spoiler. His campaign could easily siphon 20% of the vote from Graham in the general election. Thanks to a loyal base, Democratic candidates running statewide in South Carolina typically receive approximately 40% of the vote simply by being on the ballot with a ‘D’ next to their name. So, Jay Stamper should receive at least 40% of the vote (Graham’s last Democratic opponent received 42.25% of the vote after spending a total of just $15,000 in both the primary and general election). That leaves 40% of the vote for Graham, which makes the race a tossup.

But a potential Ravenel candidacy, though a Godsend, is only one of many reasons that a Jay Stamper win is beginning to look possible. Other compelling reasons include the down-ballot lift generated by the gubernatorial candidacy of Democrat Vincent Sheheen, who lost narrowly to Republican governor Nikki Haley in 2010. Sheheen is back for a rematch, with millions of dollars being pored into his campaign by state and national groups. The state party’s $3.5 million GOTV campaign is meant to bolster Sheheen but will help every Democrat on the ballot.

Finally, South Carolina is simply not as red as the popular perception would suggest. The 2012 Presidential election results demonstrated that South Carolina is only the 19th most Republican state in country and, with only three exceptions, Democrats have held state-wide elected office in South Carolina every single year since 1886! South Carolina has a strong Democratic tradition, a loyal voting base and even had a Democratic U.S. Senator until 2005.

The bottom line is that South Carolina may be a much more promising state for Democrats in 2014 than either Kentucky or Georgia, races that are rated as ‘Likely R’ and ‘Leans R’ respectively. Yet, despite having a plausible path to victory, Stamper’s campaign has yet to receive even a fraction of the funds being donated to Allison Lundergran Grimes (D-KY) or Michelle Nunn (D-GA).

If Democrats are going to hold onto the Senate this year, we need to recognize overlooked opportunities and go on the offensive to put at least one more state into play. That state may very well be South Carolina. You can contribute to Stamper's campaign here.

Will BRAVO Spawn A Monster This November… In Charleston?

No one knows if South Carolina Republican-turned-Libertarian Thomas Ravenel is floating trial balloons about running for Senate this year-- against his nemesis Lindsey Graham-- as a publicity stunt for his new BRAVO TV show, Southern Charm or if his participation in the shocking TV show is a publicity stunt for his Senate run. But this week the Post and Courier broke the story-- for those who didn't watch the first episode of the bizarre Charleston-based reality-sit-com-- that Ravenel may take on Lindsey Graham as an independent candidate.

For those who haven't been following the Ravenel saga, let's sum it up in a paragraph. His father, Arthur, a vicious racist Dixiecrat and self-styled "aristocrat," who switched to the GOP in the '60s was the congressman from Charleston from 1987-1995-- and he's the Ravenel the iconic Cooper River bridge is named for. His son Tom ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, spent almost $3 million and came in third in the GOP primary. Two years later he was elected state Treasurer and served for 6 months before being busted for selling coke. He went to a fancy "rehab" center for wealthy Republican drug addicts and was given much reduced charges-- the 500 grams he was arrested with suddenly and very conveniently became "less than 100 grams" and after he ratted out some of his suppliers-- and he was sentenced to 10 months in a Club Fed-- where he played bocci-- instead of the 20 years he should have gotten. If you watch the BRAVO show, you have already come to see what a charming and utterly despicable sociopath he is. Since being released, he's been arrested in the Hamptons for driving "drunk" (i.e.- high on coke).

Stephanie Barna, writing for the Cahrleston City Paper echoed the fears of many in her city as Southern Charm was about to launch this week offering that, for many Charlestonians, it "represents all that is base and vile in the world. Charleston will become the laughingstock of the country-- as if South Carolina isn't already a laughingstock for things much worse than man sluts. You know, things like institutionalized racism and homophobia, high rates of illiteracy, poverty, teenage pregnancy, AIDS, etc."

Now, for those like me, seeing Thomas Ravenel in his natural habitat is fascinating stuff. This is a guy who truly is from the local elite-- a French Huguenot with a family name that dates back centuries. The big bridge is named for his dad Arthur Ravenel for god sakes. And about his dad. I kind of miss old Cousin Arthur, a former politician who served in Congress, ran for governor, and took a seat on the county school board at age 79. He gave the City Paper plenty of fodder for years. We dedicated entire issues to his Cuzway, the bridge's nickname during the project stage. We called him out when he famously referred to the NAACP as the National Association for Retarded People during the Confederate flag flap.

And because he is the son of Cousin Arthur, we shouldn't be surprised that T-Rav is an attention whore who loves stirring up controversy and saying shit like he did in last week's City Paper. Father and son share a mischievous twinkle in their eyes. They like to challenge and charm people. They like attention, which is why we caught a glimpse of the senior Ravenel in the preview episode. That's right. Cousin Arthur makes an appearance in Southern Charm, and for that, I will watch. I mean, you could put these two guys in a sitcom, they are such characters.

Ravenel, who, as a Libertarian is now pro-gay equality, harbors a lot of antipathy for the closeted Lindsey Graham and told the press that if Graham wins the 5-way primary in June, he'll run against him as an independent, possibly siphoning off enough anti-Graham Republican votes in November to throw the race to progressive Democrat Jay Stamper. "If Lindsey wins the nomination, I will probably throw my hat into the ring," he said on Tuesday.

South Carolina political scientists were quick to downplay Ravenel's odds of success, given his federal cocaine charge and guilty plea that drove him from office in 2007.

"I don't think he has a chance in hell," said College of Charleston political scientist Kendra Stewart.

Stewart said some voters can be forgiving, citing how coastal 1st Congressional District Republicans responded to now-U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford's marital affair and Appalachian Trail hike story while governor.

The difference, she said, was that Sanford asked for forgiveness and was contrite-- helping him win his former seat in Congress last year.

In Ravenel's case, she said, he hasn't been as repentant. He also was pushed from office for drug use.

"I think a drug scandal is a lot harder to overcome than a marital scandal," Stewart said. "Especially in other areas of the state."

Much of Southern Charm, seen on the Bravo network, claims to show the lives of rich young men and women living in Charleston. Parts of Monday's broadcast focused on Ravenel's efforts to mix his playboy persona and efforts to rehabilitate his image toward a political campaign.

"It's just television; it's entertainment," Ravenel said of the first hour of the series that was shown Monday. He added that he felt he was portrayed accurately.

He also let on Tuesday that other Charleston residents earlier had dropped out of the project, and that his siblings had pressured him to get out as well.

"(The network) said they wouldn't have a show without me; I was the only Charlestonian in it," he said of his decision to honor his commitment to the project and stay on.

Ravenel said he would self-finance his campaign if it does materialize, and would seek donations. His conviction does not prohibit seeking federal office.

Before exploring Thomas' lovely Charleston pied-à-terre, please consider contributing Jay Stamper's grassroots Senate campaign… just in case.

Republican Coke Freak Thomas Ravenel Reinvents Himself As A BRAVO! Reality TV Star

It was Samuel Johnson who, in 1775, coined the phrase "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." They didn't have reality TV back then. Do you remember Thomas Ravenel, the Republican wing nut who was elected Treasurer of South Carolina, the head of Rudy Giuliani's ill-fated South Carolina presidential campaign and the last Tea Party opponent for Lindsey Graham-- all before he was caught selling coke. He's the son of racist former congressman Arthur Ravenel, a Dixiecrat who joined the GOP in the early 1960s and represented the Charleston based first district currently held by Mark Sanford. Now there's a BRAVO! "reality show" debuting next month about Charleston and Tom Ravenel, who's out of prison, is one of the stars. I'm not making this up. Here's the BRAVO! blurb:

New series Southern Charm goes behind the walls of Charleston, South Carolina's most aristocratic families to reveal a world of exclusivity, money and scandal that goes back generations. The fast-paced, drama-filled docu-series follows six Charleston singles, Craig Conover, Cameran Eubanks, Jenna King, Thomas Ravenel, Shepard “Shep” Rose, and Whitney Sudler-Smith, struggling with the constraints of this tight-knit, posh society. The cast, some descendants of Vice Presidents and four-term Senators, and others from "new money," is comprised of Southern bachelors who suffer from "Peter Pan Syndrome" by refusing to settle down; and the women in their lives who challenge them to grow up. Viewers will see them launch political careers, build businesses, break hearts, and chase true love-- all while struggling to preserve their family names. Because in Charleston, you're only as good as your last garden party and one social screw-up can taint generations to come.

Hard to imagine anyone would look at Ravenel's record and refer to it as a "social screw-up." A Citadel graduate, he was fined for finance fraud by the FEC after running for the Senate in 2004. He was forced to resign as State Treasurer after he was caught dealing coke, for which he was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and served 6. This past summer, the 50 year old Ravenel was arrested for "drunk" driving-- high on coke-- in the Hamptons while getting a blow job as he tooled down the Montauk Highway in an SUV.

In 2012 he backed Ron Paul for president and now he's reinvented himself as a Libertarian… and still wants to run against Lindsey Graham! But everything depends on how well the polo-playing Ravenel does on Southern Charm now.

"I will bitch slap you in a second," he tells one of the other show members on a rainy night.

He also is seen sitting in a doctor's office when he's asked to take a paternity test.

"I think may need something stronger than the tea here," he says when told someone in the cast is pregnant.

Now this next video-- fascinating… and it tells you everything you'll ever need to know about the delusional, carefully-contructed little world of Thomas Ravenel… and his parasitic class of hereditary Southern gentlemen.

ANOTHER GOP ELECTED OFFICIAL COPS A PLEA-- FOR HIS RAPE CHARGES

GOP rapist gets off with a slap on the wrist

I hope you'll recall our GOP Pervert of the Week from July 15, 2007. City Councilman Dennis Gallagher. His rape charges, coming as they did right in the midst of Republicans going on two months of wild sex flings-- from U.S. Senators like David Diapers Vitter and Larry Wide Stance Craig to relative small fry like Florida Rep. Bob Allen and North Carolina Rep. David Almond.
At the time, I wrote:

The incident took place last weekend and Gallagher submitted DNA on Friday to try to prove that he didn't do it. Well, it sure wasn't Mark Foley. Before he became a city councilman Gallagher sold porn on the internet, although, when investigated, he claimed the magazines were sold as collectibles, not as porn. Hey, sounds like a solid Republican legal argument to me; I'm surprised he wasn't appointed to the Justice Department under Bush. I'm sure his pal Giuliani has an eye on him though.

He's changed his tune. In fact, according to our pals at the Albany Project, the Queens GOP official copped a plea and is resigning from the City Council. In return his rape charge has been reduced to "forcibly touching and sexually abusing" a 52 year old constituent in his district office. His confession:

"On Sunday, July 8, 2007, while I was intoxicated, I intentionally and forcibly touched intimate parts of the complainant and subjected her to sexual contact without her consent. My conduct was wrong and I apologize to the complainant. I intend to continue treatment for my alcohol abuse and also announce my resignation as a member of the New York City Council, effective close of business on Friday, April 18, 2008."

So he gets off with... going to AA?


UPDATE: AND AS LONG AS WE'RE CATCHING UP WITH REPUBLICAN LAWBREAKERS TODAY...

Remember South Carolina's up and coming wingnut, Thomas Ravenel? When he was state Treasurer he was touted as the far right's choice to go after slightly less conservative-- but much gayer-- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. But while Lindsey was smoking pole, Tom was snorting coke-- and selling it. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and has to pay a quarter million dollar fine. Ravenel could have gotten 20 years but he ratted out some of his suppliers and got off pretty lightly.

SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY IS A MESS-- BUT THERE IS NO SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Lindsey always loved dressing up in different outfits

When Republican politicians get caught molesting young boys or distributing cocaine they deny everything and then check in to a country club-like rehabilitation center. Like GOP congressional child predator Mark Foley, South Carolina Treasurer/Giuliani state chairman Thomas Ravenel checked himself into the pricey, luxurious Sierra Tucson Center in Catalina, Arizona. Normal people would be thrown in jail but both of these are powerful southern politicians. Their only relationship to laws is making them, not being held accountable to them. This morning, rested and refreshed, 30 days after his coke bust, Ravenel makes his court debut. "Ravenel's attorneys entered a not guilty plea for the 44-year-old multimillionaire developer earlier this month. He is charged with possession with intent to distribute less than 500 grams of cocaine... If convicted, Ravenel faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine." No one thinks he will be.

The Ravenel saga isn't the only political news in South Carolina today. One of the state's Republican senators, Lindsey Graham, has to face the voters next year-- and an awful lot of voters have already made of their minds. They want anyone but Graham-- except Ravenel. Ravenel had been the favorite of the dominant far right extremists who control the state GOP and until his coke bust he was expected to take on Graham and, in all likelihood, beat him. Ravenel's crooked family could have easily financed what is expected to have been a very costly race, Graham flush with corporate donations from grateful recipients of his clear record of always selling out his constituents' interests to the greed and selfishness of Big Business.

In the wake of Ravenel's political demise, a flood of minor right-wing politicians has stepped up to make advantage of Graham's two big weaknesses-- his hysterical support for Bush's failed immigration bill and his slightly too-ajar closet door.

Today The Spoof!, a satirical magazine in Columbia, South Carolina published a parody of a secret that "everyone" knows about but that is never discussed in South Carolina-- that Lindsey, a homophobic fanatic, is actually gay himself.

University of South Carolina alumnus Lindsey Graham loves his 'Cocks.

"I have been a big fan of the 'Cocks since I was a little boy," acknowledged the Senator from South Carolina. "When people used to tell me that only girls liked the 'Cocks, I cried and screamed -- some boys like 'Cocks too!"

"While I was a student at the University of South Carolina, in addition to loving the 'Cocks, I enjoyed the Greek lifestyle as well," continued the never-married bachelor without kids. "If I could offer one piece of advice to a young Freshman entering his first year of college, I would wholeheartedly recommend joining a fraternity... and loving them 'Cocks!"

Joining a long list of other wingnuts who want a crack at Graham is Walter Witherspoon (aka, "Buddy"), a well-known orthodontist and a far right South Carolina Republican national committeeman. "Buddy" will have some real competition from former Rep. Tommy Hartnett, state Rep. Jeff Duncan, and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.

Even with the Know Nothing wing of the GOP, which in South Carolina is the GOP, furious at Graham and vowing revenge, he is viewed as the prohibitive favorite, mostly because there is no viable Democratic Party in the state and because insurgent Republicans rarely get anywhere in the top-down authoritarian party structure of South Carolina's Republican Party. Crazy right wing bloggers have been threatening to back a Blue Dog Democrat-- but none have stepped forward.


UPDATE: RAVENEL RESIGNS

Still claiming he's not guilty, South Carolina multimillionaire playboy Thomas Ravenel, who had earlier been forced to resign as Giuliani's state campaign chairman, this morning resigned as state Treasurer. This video doesn't show Ravenel snorting coke, but it does show the results of too much coke-snorting:



Of course, as son of South Carolina's racist ex-Congressman, Arthur Ravenel, what more could you expect. In fact, after Ravenel the Younger scooted off to his rehab, Giuliani appointed the racist Ravinel the Elder as his campaign head. What a team he's got down South, all headed by David Diapers Vitter.